Tree removal in Mount Evelyn
Most of Mount Evelyn has two overlays on it, but only one of them is about trees. The township rule, SLO22, is the one that decides.
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Ask for a quoteOlinda Forest. Photo: Nick Carson, CC BY 3.0
The rule in Mount Evelyn
Yarra Ranges' township overlay, SLO22, came up at 17 of the 25 points we sampled around Mount Evelyn. Under it, a council permit is needed to remove indigenous vegetation of any size, and any tree bigger than this:
- 50 cm
- around the trunk, 1.3 m above the ground. About 16 cm across, so most established trees are caught.
- 2 m
- Vegetation within 2 m of a building is outside SLO22, and overhanging branches can be cut back to 2 m clear of it.
- 10 m
- The 10/30 rule. All 25 points were in a Bushfire Prone Area, and all 25 were under the Bushfire Management Overlay. How 10/30 and the 50 m rule work.
Dead vegetation, pruning that helps a plant regrow, and species on the council's environmental weeds list are exempt from SLO22.
Get a free property report from VicPlan to see which overlays cover your block.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 22 to Clause 42.03 (SLO22) and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 52.12 (bushfire protection exemptions).
The creek overlay that doesn't touch trees
Sixteen of the 25 points were also under ESO2, an environmental overlay for the Little Stringybark Creek catchment. Part of Mount Evelyn sits at the top of that catchment, and the overlay is about stormwater: runoff from roofs and paving that erodes the creek.
ESO2 needs no permit to remove, destroy or lop vegetation, dead or alive. So on those blocks it adds nothing to a tree job, and SLO22 is still the rule to check. Only three of our points had ESO1, the overlay that does protect native vegetation.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 2 to Clause 42.01 (ESO2) and Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.01 (ESO1).
Residential streets and the canopy-tree rule
Mount Evelyn has more ordinary residential streets than the towns further into the ranges: 8 of our points were in the Neighbourhood Residential Zone, and one in the General Residential Zone. In those zones the state's canopy-tree rule applies as well as SLO22. On a lot with a house, a tree at least 5 m tall with a canopy 4 m across needs a permit if its trunk is within 6 m of the narrowest street frontage or 4.5 m of the rear boundary.
The Design and Development Overlay found at 8 points, DDO5, is about lot sizes and buildings. It doesn't need a permit to remove a tree.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 52.37 (canopy trees) and Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 5 to Clause 43.02 (DDO5).
The town
Mount Evelyn sits in a right-angled bend of the Olinda Creek. It boomed in the early 1930s while the Silvan Dam and the Mount Evelyn Aqueduct were built, and its old railway line, the highest point on the line to Warburton, is now the Warburton Trail. The south of the suburb takes in part of the Dandenong Ranges National Park, and a tree on park land is not yours to remove.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Wikipedia: Mount Evelyn, Victoria.
The rule next door
- Montrose
- The same township overlay, SLO22, at 19 of our 25 points.
- Kalorama
- The ranges overlay, SLO1, at every point, and the erosion overlay at most: trees over 1.1 m around, 4 m from a building, and steep ground.
- Silvan
- Mostly SLO5, the farming overlay: trees over 1.1 m around, 4 m from a building.
- Lilydale and Wandin North
- Outside the hills site. Lilydale is still Yarra Ranges, so the same council takes the permit application.
Each council's overlays are in the permit guide.
Checked 7 October 2026 against Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 22 to Clause 42.03 (SLO22), Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.03 (SLO1) and Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 5 to Clause 42.03 (SLO5).
Ask for a quote
Tell us where you are and what needs doing. We pass it to a local arborist who works in the hills. They ring you back to talk about the job.